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White Stork...

Scientific name : Ciconia ciconia

Family : Ciconiidae

L 102 cm, E de 155 à 215 cm

Weight 3 à 3,5 Kg

White Stork is a large wading bird, species in the family Ciconiidae. The plumage is completely pure white, with the exception of primary and secondary wing feathers are black, the pigment responsible for this color is melanin. The breast feathers are long and shaggy, forming a collar which is sometimes used during courtship. Adults have long red legs and a long red beak and right. In juveniles, the end of the beak is black. The White Stork is usually pretty quiet. The main sound from the adult white stork is a noisy beak clacking, it is said to tap, chirping or glottore.
White Stork is a great migratory and winters in tropical areas of sub-Saharan Africa to South Africa or the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea by carrying a detour to the east by the East and to the west by the Strait of Gibraltar since the currents of air ascending she needs were not formed above the water.

Diet : The White Stork has a carnivorous diet, it feeds mainly on invertebrates (especially beetles and orthopteran), molluscs, slugs, snails, earthworms, small mammal and now of Louisiana crayfish. The latter, which quickly colonize our country, is a scourge for aquatic vegetation and fish populations, amphibians, but exceptional food tank for herons and storks! She finds most of of its food on the ground, among the low vegetation, and in shallow water.

Flight : Like other storks, the wings are long and wide, adapted to the ascensionnel flight. In flapping flight, the wing movements are slow and regular. Like most members of his family, the stork flies with neck stretched forward and long legs far outweigh its short tail.

Nesting : The species is monogamous but the partners do not pair for life. They build a large nest of branches, the nest finish to measuring between 1 and 2 m in height to 80 to 150 cm in diameter. The nest is reused every year, so it can reach an enormous volume. The species often solitary nester, but colonies of thirty birds have already been noted. Each year the female usually lays four eggsthat the two parents will incubate 33 or 34 days. The young leave the nest 58-64 days after hatching, and continue to be nurtured by the parents for 7 to 20 additional days.

Statut : The White Stork is considered species of "minor concern" by the International Union for the Nature Conservation.

This remarkable bird gave rise to many legends across its distribution area, of which most known is that of babies brought by storks.